Death came with a honk.
One moment, I was stretching in my chair after esports tryouts—my body sore, my dreams alive. The next, a blinding light pierced through the fifth-story window.
HOOOOOOONK!
I turned just in time to see a truck suspended midair like some isekai anime punchline. "What the fu—"
Then nothing.
And then...
Darkness.
But not the void of death. This was different. Warm. Moist. Cramped.
[Initializing... System Synchronization Complete.]
Welcome, Seedborn.
My thoughts reeled. I tried to move, but there were no arms or legs. No lungs to gasp with. Just... me.
Confused, I focused inward.
[Species: Mana-Devouring Vine (Variant)]
Evolution Stage: 1
Traits: Photosynthetic Core I, Absorption Rootlets, System Link (Gluttony-type)
Mana Pool: 10/10
Skills: [Devour], [Root Sense], [Vine Whip]
Titles: None
Passive: Gluttonous Hunger (Sealed)
'...Wait. I've been reincarnated? As a vine?!'
I could feel myself growing, tendrils unfurling from some fleshy central stalk. Tiny roots probed the damp soil beneath me. My stem trembled with pulses of... mana?
'Okay, okay, deep breaths—well, not breaths—mental breaths. I can work with this. I've played enough monster games to know how this goes. Step one: don't die. Step two: evolve. Step three: become god.'
Something twitched nearby—something alive. A small creature, no bigger than a rat, scuttled through the darkness.
I didn't see it. I felt it. A pressure in the soil, the way my root hairs quivered when it brushed past. Root Sense.
Without thinking, I extended a tendril, then another. Like reflexes honed from gaming, my instincts guided me. I lashed out—
Snap!
It squealed, muffled and wet. Then silence.
[Target consumed.]
[Skill Fragment Detected...]
[New Skill Acquired: Minor Echolocation (Burrow-Type)]
[Mana increased by 2.]
I paused. My viney form stiffened in surprise. I had just eaten... a mole-thing? And gained a skill?
My mana ticked up from 10 to 12. I didn't understand how, but I could feel the difference.
'So… this is real. I'm a damn predator plant with a gacha stomach.'
A low chuckle bubbled in my mind.
'This is kind of awesome.'
I don't know how long I lay there, writhing and growing. Time passed in sensations—earth vibrating, mana drifting through the roots, soft fungal blooms brushing my tendrils. I devoured everything I could reach. Bugs, worms, blind things. Some gave me skills. Others boosted my stats.
And through it all, the System whispered.
[Devour successful.]
[Skill Failed to Extract.]
[Mana Absorbed: +1]
[Evolution Progress: 11%]
Sometimes, I got nothing. Other times... jackpot.
[New Skill Acquired: Spore Burst (Lesser)]
[Title Earned: Root of Hunger]
[Title Effect: Unlocks Passive Skill — Hunger Pulse: Nearby prey emit faint mana pulses visible through Verdant Perception. Slightly increases chance of successful skill extraction.]
It was only after a while that I began to hear something new.
A hum.
No, a voice.
It wasn't speaking in words. It was... the earth? The moss? The air?
A faint whispering echoing through the roots of the world.
I didn't understand it, but I felt it. Something was watching me grow. Not directly—but like I was now connected to a network far greater than myself.
[Verdant Perception: Seed Stage unlocked.]
I shuddered. It wasn't fear. It was thrill. Excitement.
Back on Earth, I had been nothing. A broke, depressed gamer raising a little sister who the system failed. I watched her waste away. The world offered me no do-overs.
But here? Here, the System was mine. Power was mine. I didn't know where I was—maybe in a dungeon, maybe in hell—but I wasn't about to be a background mob.
'No way. This is my world now.'
I sent out my vines further. I could feel tunnels. Pulses. Moisture. Something was moving.
More prey.
More skills.
More evolution.
I was still just a vine, but even vines could strangle kingdoms in time.
And I?
I would devour everything.